Davina McCall arrives in Moffat after her gruelling cycle, supported by her father Andrew (Image: Angus McDougal)

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DAVINA MCCALL was close to collapse after the first leg of her charity challenge yesterday as doctors feared she had hypothermia.

The former Big Brother presenter set off cycling from Edinburgh Castle at 8am but freezing wind and rain almost forced her to abandon her Sport Relief marathon within hours.

She has vowed to cover 500 miles over seven days, travelling from Edinburgh to London.

But her attempt was almost over within hours as temperatures plummeted and she faced freezing winds.

With just 20 miles on the clock, she was seen in a state of distress, with her team warning on Twitter: “In temps of just three degrees with a bitter wind chill, the medics say Davina is showing early signs of hypothermia.”

But she received treatment from her support team and managed to get back on her bike.

The TV host reached her lunch stop 60 miles into her journey in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, at 2.30pm – more than 90 minutes behind schedule.

Clearly struggling, she was helped into the Moffat House Hotel by her dad Andrew, who is on her support team.

The team tweeted at the time: “Sixty miles in the bag. Sleet, gales, bitter cold and hypothermia. Warm clothes and a phone call home are her priorities.

“She’s made it to the lunch stop. They were the worst conditions we’ve had on any challenge we’ve ever done.”

Shattered Davina is seen by her physio at Gretna Green where she also received some encouragement from her mum and dad (Image: PA/Alex Walker)

Davina was due to arrive in Keswick, Cumbria, at around 10.30pm last night.

A short time later, she said: “Back on the bike, another 70 miles to go. Oh God, it’s day 1.”

At one point yesterday, she was cycling an average speed of 12mph against wind gusts of up to 37mph.

She began the day by posting a message at 6am, saying: “Holy moly. This is it. Day one. Not much sleep…I’m sure I’ll sleep well tonight. 14 hrs cycling.”

Starting at Edinburgh Castle yesterday morning and finishing in London on Friday, the toughest challenge of Davina’s life will include cycling, swimming the life-threateningly cold Lake Windermere, scaling the colossal Scafell Pike on foot and running a full marathon, all to raise money for Sport Relief.

Davina McCall breaks down ahead of day two of her challenge

The presenter broke down this morning and had to be comforted by her physio as she prepared for the second leg of her challenge.

After cycling 130 miles yesterday, today she plans to cycle and run from Keswick to Windermere, while tomorrow sees her swim and cycle from Windermere to Accrington, Lancashire.

On Tuesday, she’ll cycle and run from Accrington to Edale, while Wednesday’s plan is to cycle to Birmingham.

On Thursday, she will cycle from Birmingham to Windsor before day seven, Friday, will hopefully see her run from Windsor to the finishing point in central London.